June 16, 2011: Today Dublin becomes the only city in the world where the locals literally queue up to welcome visitors. A new project called City of a Thousand Welcomes harnesses the Irish capital’s reputation for offering a warm welcome with a format that makes sharing a pint or a cuppa with a Dubliner a certainty rather than a hope for thousands of visitors.
“Over three million people visit Dublin each year,” says Trevor White, director of the project, “and the reason why many of them come here is to meet friendly locals. City of a Thousand Welcomes brings visitors and Dubliners together in a fun, structured, safe way, at no cost to either party.”

From today, people from all over the world can sign up at www.cityofathousandwelcomes.com to meet with our Dublin Ambassadors over a free drink or cup of tea in three great Dublin institutions: the Merrion Hotel, Bewley’s Café and the Porterhouse.

When the call for Ambassadors was issued in March, the organisers wanted to recruit 1,000 volunteers to sign up as Ambassadors. Over 2,500 people have since applied, proving that Dublin really is one of the friendliest cities in the world. Among the volunteers are well-known Dubliners such as Victoria Smurfit, David McWilliams, Bill Cullen, Graham Knuttel, former Miss World Rosanna Davison and Presidential candidate Senator David Norris.

The sponsors of the service include Fáilte Ireland, Dublin City Council and Dublin Regional Authority. City of a Thousand Welcomes will be headquartered in the Little Museum of Dublin, a new people’s museum that will open on St Stephen’s Green later this summer.